The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency says it is embarking on a debt recovery measure aimed at collecting about $5bn from its debtors.
A statement by NIMASA on Sunday recalled that debts owed the agency by various operators in the maritime industry had necessitated an investigation and a public hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration in June this year.
Last week, the agency had appointed Snecou Financial Services Company Limited to assist in its revenue generation efforts. The contract is for a period of two years, with an option for renewal.
The Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, said the debt recovery agreement was “totally different from what Global West was doing for NIMASA. The contract was not awarded to the Chairman of the APC in Rivers State. It was awarded to Snecou Nigeria Limited and we advertised the contract in several newspapers. We have followed due process in accordance with relevant laws to get our money from debtors.”
The approval for the contract was recently granted by the Parastatals Tenders Board of the agency at its 55th session, which held at the agency’s head office in Lagos, he stated.
Given the urgent need to recover the debts, NIMASA had sought and obtained a certificate of no objection from the Bureau of Public Procurement in line with the Public Procurement Act, Peterside said.
According to the contractual agreement endorsed by both parties, the contract is based on a success rate of 13 per cent, using a benchmark of $19,753,012.36 and N239,607,155.52 monthly revenue while a maximum cap of 15 per cent success rate is payable on any new revenue, head discovered by the consultants within the contract period.
“In other words, Snecou Financial Services Company Limited will be paid 13 per cent of only the revenue that is above the threshold of the approved benchmark in the course of the contracting period. Similarly, Messrs Snecou will also be entitled to a maximum of 15 per cent of new revenue streams discovered during the period,” it stated.
PUNCH
